A Life of Law-keeping is Enslaving

13 For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. 14 For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 15 But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another.

16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. 19 Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21 envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. – Galatians 5:13-21 ESV

Freedom from the law results in license. That was one of the accusations the party of the circumcision leveled against Paul and his message of grace and freedom from the law. They most likely used Paul’s own teaching as evidence against him.

In his letter to the Romans, Paul wrote, “…where sin increased, grace abounded all the more” (Romans 5:20 ESV). And yet, Paul went on to say, “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?” (Romans 6:1-2 ESV). Grace was not a license to sin. The freedom it provided from the Mosaic Law was not a ticket to live as one pleased. Grace freed people from having to keep the law in an attempt to earn favor with God. The law held men captive to their sin, in bondage to their own weakness, and incapable of doing anything about it. But the salvation offered in Christ set men free. It was William Barclay who wrote, “…the Christian is not the man who has become free to sin, but the man, who, by the grace of God, has become free not to sin.”

That is why Paul warned his readers to not use their new-found freedom in Christ as an opportunity for the flesh. They were free from having to keep the law, but not free from having to live in keeping with God’s expectation of holiness. At one point in His ministry, Jesus was asked what the greatest commandment of God was, and He responded:

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” – Matthew 22:37-40 ESV

Paul used these very words of Jesus to admonish his readers. Loving God meant living according to His holy will. Loving others required loving them selflessly and sacrificially, which is why Paul said, “…through love serve one another” (Galatians 5:13 ESV).

In his letter to the believers in Corinth, Paul provided an entire chapter on the subject of love. In it, he wrote:

If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don’t love, I’m nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate. If I speak God’s Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, ‘Jump,’ and it jumps, but I don’t love, I’m nothing. If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don’t love, I’ve gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt without love. – 1 Corinthians 13:1-7 MSG

But this kind of love is only possible through the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit. Without His help and our complete reliance upon His power, we will tend to live in the weakness of our own sinful flesh; we will become selfish and self-centered. We will tend to gratify the desires of our old nature, which Paul describes with painful accuracy. These fleshly desires are the exact opposite of what the Spirit wants to produce in us. They are counter to the will of God and reflect a love of self more than a love for Him. They most certainly don’t model a love for others.

Look at Paul’s list: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, and wild parties. Each of these “works of the flesh” reveals a disdain for God and a complete disregard for others.

The moral, ceremonial, and civil sections of the Mosaic Law were designed to regulate the lives of the people of Israel regarding their relationship with God and with one another. But as Jesus said, all of the commandments could be summed up by two simple commands: Love God and love others.

Loving God required a sold-out allegiance to Him as the one true God. The Israelites were forbidden from giving their affections to any other god. Jesus’ admonition to love others required concrete and observable actions. To love another person meant that you could not become jealous of them, get angry with them, lust after them, or take advantage of them. These kinds of actions were antithetical to love.

Notice that Paul’s list has more to do with our relationships with one another than our relationship with God. There is a reason for this. The apostle John wrote, “If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen” (1 John 4:20 ESV). The greatest expression of our love for God is to be found in our love for those whom He has made. When we love others, we are actually displaying our love for God. Living selflessly and sacrificially exemplifies the very character of God. When our lives are marked by self-control and a focus on the needs of others, we reflect His divine nature and its influence over our lives. But Paul makes it clear that these divinely influenced behaviors are only possible when we live according to the power of God’s indwelling Spirit.

So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. – Galatians 5:16 NLT

Paul points out that a Spirit-led life stands diametrically opposed to a flesh-filled life.

…the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. – Galatians 5:17 NLT

In the life of a believer, a battle is always raging between the flesh and the Spirit.

These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions. – Galatians 5:17 NLT

Salvation does not eliminate a believer’s sin nature; it provides him with a way to reject its influence over his life. Paul reminded the members of the Colossian church that they had been “raised to new life with Christ” so they were to set their sights “on the realities of heaven” (Colossians 3:1 NLT). At the same time, they were to allow the Holy Spirit to remove all those behaviors that were associated with their old sinful natures.

…put to death the sinful, earthly things lurking within you. Have nothing to do with sexual immorality, impurity, lust, and evil desires. Don’t be greedy, for a greedy person is an idolater, worshiping the things of this world. Because of these sins, the anger of God is coming. You used to do these things when your life was still part of this world. But now is the time to get rid of anger, rage, malicious behavior, slander, and dirty language. Don’t lie to each other, for you have stripped off your old sinful nature and all its wicked deeds. Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like him. – Colossians 3:5-10 NLT

Paul wanted the Colossians and the Galatians to understand that a life continually characterized by the works of the flesh was a life devoid of the Spirit of God. Those who have placed their faith in Jesus Christ have received God’s indwelling and empowering Spirit and, as a result, they are no longer slaves to sin and incapable of living righteous lives. They have been filled with the Holy Spirit and have the power to love God and love others. That’s why Paul told the Romans, “But you are not controlled by your sinful nature. You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you. (And remember that those who do not have the Spirit of Christ living in them do not belong to him at all)” (Romans 8:9 NLT).

The presence of the Spirit within us does not guarantee that we will live sin-free lives, but it does mean that we don’t have to live sin-dominated lives. Living according to our own sinful flesh will always produce bad fruit. But living according to the Spirit of God produces good fruit that pleases God and blesses others. We have been freed from the penalty and power of sin. Because of Christ’s death on the cross and His Spirit’s presence within us, we are free to say no to sin.

The grace of God has made a sin-less life possible. We are not completely free from sin but we are no longer slaves to its wishes and whims. According to Paul, salvation has broken the chains by which sin once held us captive.

We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin. For when we died with Christ we were set free from the power of sin. – Romans 6:6-7 NLT

Sin is no longer your master, for you no longer live under the requirements of the law. Instead, you live under the freedom of God’s grace. – Romans 6:14 NLT

Paul’s whole point is that a return to law-keeping is a return to enslavement. The law could not empower anyone to say no to sin; it could only reveal the presence of sin in their lives. The law could only expose and condemn sin but it couldn’t provide a way to resist its influence. That’s why Paul pointed out how his pre-conversion life was marked by a love-hate relationship with the law.

…it was the law that showed me my sin. I would never have known that coveting is wrong if the law had not said, “You must not covet.” But sin used this command to arouse all kinds of covetous desires within me! If there were no law, sin would not have that power. – Romans 7:7-8 NLT

Paul didn’t want the Galatians to exchange the grace of God for a life of enslavement to the law and a losing battle with sin. He had long ago discovered that “the law’s commands, which were supposed to bring life, brought spiritual death instead” (Romans 7:10 NLT), and he wanted to keep the Galatians from experiencing the futility of a life ruled by law-keeping instead of grace.

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Feeding the Monster Within.

In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle, David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel. And they ravaged the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem.

It happened, late one afternoon, when David arose from his couch and was walking on the roof of the king’s house, that he saw from the roof a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful. And David sent and inquired about the woman. And one said, “Is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?” So David sent messengers and took her, and she came to him, and he lay with her. (Now she had been purifying herself from her uncleanness.) Then she returned to her house. And the woman conceived, and she sent and told David, “I am pregnant.”

So David sent word to Joab, “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” And Joab sent Uriah to David. When Uriah came to him, David asked how Joab was doing and how the people were doing and how the war was going. Then David said to Uriah, “Go down to your house and wash your feet.” And Uriah went out of the king’s house, and there followed him a present from the king. But Uriah slept at the door of the king’s house with all the servants of his lord, and did not go down to his house. When they told David, “Uriah did not go down to his house,” David said to Uriah, “Have you not come from a journey? Why did you not go down to your house?” Uriah said to David, “The ark and Israel and Judah dwell in booths, and my lord Joab and the servants of my lord are camping in the open field. Shall I then go to my house, to eat and to drink and to lie with my wife? As you live, and as your soul lives, I will not do this thing.” Then David said to Uriah, “Remain here today also, and tomorrow I will send you back.” So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day and the next. And David invited him, and he ate in his presence and drank, so that he made him drunk. And in the evening he went out to lie on his couch with the servants of his lord, but he did not go down to his house. – 2 Samuel 11:1-13 ESV

There is a saying found in the book of Proverbs that reads: “Stolen bread tastes sweet, but it turns to gravel in the mouth” (Proverbs 20:17 NLT). This little proverb is very applicable to the story found in chapter 11 of 2 Samuel, and what makes it even more interesting is that the book of Proverbs, in which it is found, was compiled by Solomon, the son of David and Bathsheba. It’s a simple proverbs, but carries profound weight. What is forbidden often has a strong appeal to us and, when we get what we desire, it can provide a short-lived sense of gratification. But the proverb goes on to warn that the forbidden, once consumed, quickly loses its appeal and can have serious consequences. Stolen bread that turns to gravel in the mouth would not only leave a disappointingly bad taste in your mouth, but a face full of broken teeth as well.

The story of David and Bathsheba is probably one of the most well-known stories in the Bible. How would you like it if one of the worst sins you have ever committed was chronicles in a book for everyone to read? One of the things about the Bible is its brutal honesty. It gives us the good, the bad, and the ugly regarding men. It doesn’t attempt to paint a rosy picture about mankind, but goes out of its way to reveal the presence of sin in the lives of even the most faithful characters. All you have to do is look at the lives of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Noah, Peter and a host of other biblical characters to realize that sin is an ever-present problem even for the most godly individuals. And David was no exception. As has been pointed out before, David had an inordinate love affair with women. His attraction to women was his Achilles Heel, his weak spot. He had already amassed for himself a collection of wives who had fathered him a number of children. And this had been in direct disobedience to the command of God. And it’s interesting to note that David’s growing collection of wives never seemed to scratch the itch he had. His lust was never satisfied. He never seemed to reach the point where enough was enough. He had more than enough wives to satisfy his sexual needs, yet there seemed to be in David a desire for the forbidden, an overwhelming drive for “stolen bread”. He wanted what he could not have.

In the case of Bathsheba, David was in the wrong spot at the wrong time. The passage makes it painfully clear that it was spring, “the time when kings go out to battle” (2 Samuel 11:1 ESV). But David had chosen to remain in Jerusalem while his troops went off the war. He was the warrior-king. It was his responsibility to lead his troops into battle. He was to be the protector of the kingdom. He had a God-appointed role to fulfill, but he had delegated it to Joab. And this was the first step in David feeding the monster within. David knew he had a problem. He was well aware of the lust that lurked within himself. And by staying home in Jerusalem, David set himself up for failure. He created the ideal opportunity in which to allow his lust to get the better of him. He was not doing what he was supposed to be doing. He was not where he was supposed to be. And Satan, the enemy, took advantage of the situation, knowing David’s weakness and casting the perfect bait to lure David into sin. The apostle James reminds us:

“…remember, when you are being tempted, do not say, “God is tempting me.” God is never tempted to do wrong, and he never tempts anyone else. Temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away. These desires give birth to sinful actions. And when sin is allowed to grow, it gives birth to death.” – James 1:13-15 NLT

Full fish don’t usually take the bait. Well-fed fish are not as susceptible to the lure. And David’s lust for women had yet to be satisfied because he had a heart problem. He had an insatiable desire for women. And no amount of wives was going to satisfy what was, in actuality, a spiritual problem. By staying in Jerusalem and refusing to go to war, David set himself up for failure. He found himself with idle time and an overactive libido. And it just so happened that, as he woke in the afternoon from a nap, he went onto the roof of his palace and spied a woman bathing. And his desires enticed him and drug him away. He saw and he had to have. He lusted and he had to satisfy that lust. Even though he was clearly told that Bathsheba was the wife of Uriah, who happened to be one of David’s warriors. She was married, but that little fact carried no weight with David. David’s lust led him to commit adultery. And before he could realize it, the sweetness of the stolen bread turned to gravel in his mouth. Bathsheba broke the news to David that she was pregnant. The text had pointed out that Bathsheba, having just finished the cleansing for her menstrual cycle as prescribed by the law, was ready to conceive. And she did.

This surprising bit of news threw David into overdrive. He immediately attempted to do damage control, trying to come up with a way to cover up his sin. He called Uriah home from the battle front. David naturally assumed that Uriah would make a beeline to his home, have sexual relations with his wife, and the problem would be solved. But what David didn’t take into account was Uriah’s dedication to the king and allegiance to his fellow soldiers. He wasn’t going to allow himself the pleasure of his wife’s company while his brothers were still at war. So he slept with the servants of the king. And even when David got Uriah drunk, this faithful servant refused to go home. What a contrast we see between Uriah’s behavior and that of David, the king. It’s interesting to note that Uriah was a Hittite, a non-Jew, yet he proved to more faithful than the man after God’s own heart. His response to David’s enticement to go home and be with his wife reveals a great deal about Uriah’s integrity.

“The Ark and the armies of Israel and Judah are living in tents, and Joab and my master’s men are camping in the open fields. How could I go home to wine and dine and sleep with my wife? I swear that I would never do such a thing.” – 2 Samuel 11:11 NLT

David’s attempt at a cover up was blowing up in his face. His little deception was falling apart right before his eyes. And David was growing desperate. He had committed adultery. Now he was attempt to cover it up. He was also trying to get another man to sin against his own conscience. All in an attempt to cover up his own sin. David had made the mistake of feeding the monster within and now he was being devoured by it. His life was being consumed by his own sin nature.

The apostle Paul gives us a less-than-attractive list of the “fruit” that come as a result of giving our sin nature free reign in our lives:

When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these.– Galatians 5:19-21 NLT

It all had begun with David not being where he was supposed to be. Staying home in Jerusalem wasn’t necessarily a sin, but it proved to be unwise. Had David gone off to war like he was supposed to do, he wouldn’t have been on his rooftop that day. He wouldn’t have seen Bathsheba bathing. He wouldn’t have lusted. He wouldn’t have committed adultery. And there would have been no sin to cover up. Take a look again at the passage in James: “Temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away. These desires give birth to sinful actions. And when sin is allowed to grow, it gives birth to death.” Do you see the pattern?

Temptation – desires – enticement – sinful action – increased sin – death

The key to defeating the monster within is to starve it. Paul reminds us, “So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves” (Galatians 5:16 NLT). As long as David fed the monster within, he was going to find himself devoured from within. But if he had chosen to listen to the Spirit of God, and do what God had called him to do, this whole affair could have been avoided.

English Standard Version (ESV)
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT)
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

The Message (MSG)Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson

Heavenly Minded.

Colossians 3:1-17

Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God's right hand. Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth. For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God. – Colossians 3:1-3 NLT

There's an old saying that goes something like this: "Some people are so heavenly minded that they're no earthly good." The gist of that statement is that we can become so focused on spiritual things that we never do learn to live them out on a practical level. While I agree with the general idea, I think there are very few of us who suffer with this problem. In fact, I don't believe there are that many Christians today who are truly heavenly minded. Sure, we think of heaven on occasion, when a loved one is nearing death, we attend a funeral, or when we're going through a particularly bad spell of trials with no end in sight. But for the most part, if life on this earth is going well, we tend to think about the things of this earth. We enjoy the things of this earth. And before we know it, heaven becomes an afterthought. It becomes that nice reward that awaits us some time in the distant future. But for now, our minds remain set on earth. And that's understandable, because we're human. We have a human nature, which for the most part, is synonymous with our sin nature. It's what Paul called "the flesh." That part of us that is of this world, and longs for and craves the things of this world. In fact, our "flesh," as Paul describes it, is in love with this world, and it is opposed to the things of heaven. One of the greatest battles we face as Christians is an internal one. It takes place between our sin nature and the new nature provided for us by Christ's death and the Holy Spirit's presence in our lives. Paul told the Galatian church, "The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other…" (Galatians 5:17 NLT)

Paul knew full well what this war within was like. He shared his first-hand experience with it in his letter to the Romans. "…if the power of sin within me keeps sabotaging my best intentions, I obviously need help! I realize that I don’t have what it takes. I can will it, but I can’t do it. I decide to do good, but I don’t really do it; I decide not to do bad, but then I do it anyway. My decisions, such as they are, don’t result in actions. Something has gone wrong deep within me and gets the better of me every time. It happens so regularly that it’s predictable. The moment I decide to do good, sin is there to trip me up. I truly delight in God’s commands, but it’s pretty obvious that not all of me joins in that delight. Parts of me covertly rebel, and just when I least expect it, they take charge. I’ve tried everything and nothing helps. I’m at the end of my rope. Is there no one who can do anything for me? Isn’t that the real question?" (Romans 7:17-24 The Message).

So what's the cure? Paul gives the answer in the very next verse: "The answer, thank God, is that Jesus Christ can and does." Jesus provides the answer. He not only provided for our salvation, but He made possible our ongoing sanctification, by giving us the indwelling presence of His Holy Spirit. We have a power source available to us that is like no other. It is the same power that raised Jesus from the dead. But Paul reminds the Colossian believers that they have to reset their minds, reconfigure their thought processes. They need to focus their attention on the things of heaven – where Jesus Himself is and where our future lies. This world is not our home. We don't belong here. It is a temporary holding place, but is not intended to be our permanent residence. And it is not to garner all our attention. It should never distract us from the reality of heaven and the eternal nature of our souls.

Over in Romans 13, Paul warns his believing readers, "…make no provision for the flesh in regards to its lusts" (Romans 13:13-14 NASB). The Greek word translated "make no provision" means to "know ahead, to have forethought." It conveys the idea of preparing ahead to sin. We actually provide for sin in our lives by cultivating a climate in our minds in which it can grow and prosper. How do we do it?

-        By focusing our thoughts on the wrong things

-        By concentrating our attention on impure things

-        By participating in the “deeds of evil and darkness” that mark this world

-        By applauding evil and rationalizing our involvement with it

-        By glamorizing sin and growing complacent about wickedness

-        By refusing to expose sin in our own lives and the lives of those around us

-        By becoming lazy about our lifestyle and flippant about God’s will

-        By failing to recognize that we live in evil times

That's why Paul says, "Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth." This was a common theme for Paul. He told the believers in Philippi the same thing. "Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise." (Philippians 4:8 NLT). The things we fill out minds with are incredibly important when it comes to how we live our lives. Paul reminds us to "put to death the sinful, earthly things lurking within you" (Colossians 3:5 NLT). So rather than feed the flesh, we need to starve it. He goes on and makes it even more specific. "Have nothing to do with sexual immorality, impurity, lust, and evil desires" (Colossians 3:5 NLT). And I don't think he is restricting our involvement in these things to the purely physical level. He is also addressing our thought lives. He are to have NOTHING to do with these things. That includes not watching others act them out on TV or in the movies we watch. He also tells us to refrain from greed because it reveals that we worship and love the things of this world. He warns against anger, rage, malicious behavior, slander, lying and dirty language. All these things are characteristics of our sinful human nature. But we have a new nature and are being renewed into the likeness of Christ by the indwelling power and presence of the Holy Spirit. But we have to fix our minds on the things of heaven, not the things of this earth. We have to desire what the Spirit desires, not what the flesh desires. Paul makes it clear in Galatians 5:19-21 what the fruit of feeding the flesh looks like. But he also tells us what fixing our eyes on heaven looks like. When we live heavenly minded lives, we will exhibit heavenly minded fruit: tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, forgiveness, love, and peace.So what are you going to fix your thoughts on today?

Father, we are surrounded by the things of this world and it is so easy to become fixated on what we see. We can't see heaven and we can't see You. But give us a heavenly perspective that allows us to see the things of heaven more clearly with each passing day. Help us to live by faith, because "Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see" (Hebrews 11:1 NLT). Amen.